Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
The devastating demonic destruction in the Tribulation period (Revelation 9) is eye-opening: we see the nefarious and nihilistic intent of Satan and the demons. Their present assaults on all of mankind include Christians, who have available “the whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:13) in order to successfully combat these pressing attacks. Ephesians 6:17 adds one more piece of spiritual protection: “Take … the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” This weapon is a short sword, used for close-in fighting – really, for mortal combat. As such, it was employed both offensively and defensively. Spiritually, it represents “the word of God.” This usage advances the thought of the belt of “truth” (verse 14), which includes the entire panoply of the facts of the Christian faith. “Word” is the Greek rhema, which is employed of individual words or verses and points to the ability to take small sections of the entire Word of God and use them at the appropriate time to defeat Satan. Immediately, then, we see the value – actually, the necessity – of familiarity with the Bible. For example, John 3:16 reinforces our certainty of salvation through faith in Jesus. Psalm 23 scatters Satan’s attempts to cause doubt and fear in times of dire distress. Philippians 4:13 provides confidences, especially when we are faced with new challenges: “I can do all things through Christ [Who] strengthens me.” God’s Word is life-giving and life-sustaining; using portions of it against Satan and the demons will always be effective.